HECA Clemente Álvarez Emergency Hospital

Intensive investigation into the advantages of horizontal modular systems has resulted in a number of award-winning competitions for high complexity hospitals and this approach defined the two basic considerations that drove the design for Rosario’s new emergency hospital: flexibility in terms of its capacity to adapt to new medical technologies and the provision of efficient and comfortable spaces for the patients, staff and families in a situation that is, by definition, highly stressful. Organized into a series of two-story bar-shaped volumes that define zones of usage and their hierarchies, the public areas are located in the bar that runs along the street and the staff offices and services area are located in the bar at the back. In between, three perpendicular bars, separated by two internal patios, which provide natural light and ventilation, contain the treatment areas, differentiated in plan and section on the two floors according to their function and the level of patient treatment.